I do my quiet time in the morning, and today, my Bible reading schedule led me to this verse.
John 9
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. The night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spits on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So, the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
What stood out when I read the verse was how Jesus instructed a blind man to go somewhere else.
I thought that was extremely inconvenient for the blind man. Jesus could’ve healed the blind man on the spot, but He chose to let the blind man go on this journey.
The blind man must’ve felt his way to get to the pool. He would have fumbled and bumped into a lot of things on the road. He probably needed to ask people which direction to go.
It made me reflect how Jesus performed miracles on people. There’s a lot of them, so I chose 6 short stories for this devotional piece.
Matthew 8:5-13
New International Version (NIV)
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you; I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
We prayed. We knew what we wanted exactly. We believed with all our hearts that God would make it happen, and it did!
Sometimes, Jesus provides blessings following what we believe. It requires a tremendous amount of faith, but God can say yes to our prayers and deliver what we requested precisely.
John 5:1-15
New International Version (NIV)
The Healing at the Pool
5 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
We want to get promoted, but the competition is too high. We want to start a business, but the market is too scary.
Jesus told the disabled man just to do it.
In the same way, we should take that leap of faith. It may seem impossible but just do it. It may be difficult but just do it. After all, nothing is impossible with Jesus.
Luke 8:43-48
King James Version (KJV)
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, 44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, who touched me?
46 And Jesus said Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
You studied and trained. You exhausted your resources and built connections, but your project still failed.
Same with the woman with the issue of blood. She did everything she could to get well but failed.
She came to the point of desperation and decided to seek Jesus. She found Jesus, but it seemed impossible to get hold of Him because of the crowd. She wasn’t allowed by law to enter the community because of her illness, but she was desperate. So, she broke traditions and rules and got hold of Jesus’ garment.
Sometimes we must be broken and desperate to believe in Jesus. When we desperately seek Jesus, we will receive our breakthrough.
Mark 10:46-52
New International Version (NIV)
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So, they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
There would be times when we pray, but it seems that God doesn’t hear us.
We continue to pray, but nothing is happening.
The people around are already telling us to stop because it’s becoming embarrassing, but we should not stop.
We will need to pray louder and worship harder.
When we do, we will receive our breakthrough.
Matthew 15:21-28
New International Version (NIV)
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So, his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes, it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
You’re already broken and desperate, so you call to Jesus. However, He doesn’t listen.
You go to church because you have no place to go, but Christians judged you and sent you away.
Don’t give up. Look through the offence and focus on the lesson. When you do, God will give your breakthrough.
John 11:38-44
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
You prayed. You put all your hope in Jesus, but nothing happened.
Now, all is lost. The opportunity had passed, and the timing is already off. Your dreams are in flames, and all hope is lost.
God can make you rise out of the ashes like a phoenix. Never lose hope.
Jesus’ timing and methods are different for each person. We should focus on Jesus and the task that He asked us to do and not on other people.
If we look at other people’s breakthroughs, we might get envious or jealous, and that can take us off course. We should focus on our duties and aim to develop continually.
If we do not stop seeking Jesus, we will receive our breakthrough. It may take a while, or it may take a second, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we continue to do the will of the Lord who created us with a purpose and love us unconditionally.
Thank you for reading this devotional story and I pray that it encouraged and empowered you in your walk with Christ. Please read other devotional stories on the website. You might find My Happily Ever After, Set Expectations and The Best Pork Roll interesting.
If you’re interested in supporting this ministry of sharing the Gospel online, please subscribe, like and share this devotional story so we can spread God’s goodness, empowerment and love. Check out Merch by High3r.com on the website as well. God bless you!